


Dosu's Redemption

by kuscospoison



Category: Naruto
Genre: Briefly mentioned Nara Shikamaru/Temari, Development of sound jutsus (cuz everybody just kinda forgot about that), Dosu is probs aroace for future reference, Dosu survives the fight with Gaara, F/M, Gen, Kakashi takes him under his masked wing, M/M, salty Dosu
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-02-10 00:43:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12900324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuscospoison/pseuds/kuscospoison
Summary: After losing everything he's ever known, Dosu is taken in by none other than the copy ninja and Iruka. Now he must learn and grow as a shinobi in order to one day take back his home, the village hidden in the Sound. Still kinda tbd in a lotta stuff at this point.Originally posted on fanfiction.net





	1. Chapter 1

Dosu had used a substitution jutsu just before Gaara managed to kill him. It was only then that he realized that his life was in danger, that Gaara was more dangerous than he'd calculated. He didn't want to admit it, but he was scared. He'd barely escaped Gaara, and killing Sasuke was out of the question. Gaara had managed to break his arm and the resonating echo speaker attached to it. And with all of that, who knew what Orochimaru had planned for him.

So he hid. He laid low in konoha's forests, making a poorly fashioned splint for his arm.

Dosu had always been cautious, logical. One had to be in his condition. His twisted, bent spine gave him an awkward gait at the best of times, and at the worst gave him unbearable back pain. So he honed his mind, training his body at the minimum for being a shinobi. His mother had left him to die as a toddler, and Orochimaru had taught him that the world was a cruel place, and if you wanted to survive you'd have to be smart, hunchback or not.

After a little while, when things seemed to calm down, he snuck out to see if he could gather intelligence on the whereabouts of his friends. He was banking on Kin's intelligence keeping them alive. She would keep Zaku from doing anything too stupid.

He sat in a tree outside the hokage's office, hoping that once everyone was gone he could break in and do some digging.

"-you sure they didn't have anyone? There's no one we should contact about their deaths?" A silver-haired ninja asked a brown-haired nin with a scar over his nose.

The scarred shinobi shook his head. "Their emergency contact forms were blank. It seems Orochimaru took them in for the sole purpose of this plot." He looked down. "They aren't even going to be able to be buried together. We still haven't found Dosu Kinuta."

Dosu swallowed the lump in his throat. He should have realized this was going to happen. But he had clung to that childish hope in order to keep himself going. He realized the two nins were talking again.

"How could he sacrifice children like that? Take advantage of someone who was vulnerable, then turn them into a tool to just get cast aside?" The brown-haired nin said, gripping the papers. He looked the way Dosu felt inside. Grieving, angry.

"Someone who has lost his humanity, I guess. I try not to think about that too much. Do you want to go to the morgue? Mourn for them?" The masked nin said, holding the scarred nin's hand. The scarred nin nodded, and Dosu hopped out of the tree, intending to follow them. He waited outside the entrance to the building. The two shinobi came out, hand in hand.

Dosu, although confused at their affection, followed silently behind them.

When they got to the morgue, he waited until they were gone before attempting to go inside. It was locked, but he managed to pick it by listening to the lock and using a salvaged piece of metal from the broken echo speaker.

When he got inside he didn't have to look hard to find them. They hadn't even been put into one of the drawers. They were still laying on the table, their eyes still open.

Dosu's breath shook as he went to them, his vision blurred.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, trying to hold down his sob that threatened to rip his chest apart. "I abandoned you. You were my friends, all I've ever had. I left you to die, because I was scared. That sand shinobi...He almost killed me, he broke my arm. It still hurts. My echo speaker is completely broken, and I can fix it, but..." He looked down. "I don't even know how you both died."

"They died as tools for Orochimaru's cause. The same way you would have if you hadn't been hiding."

Dosu turned. It was the masked nin.

"I remember you from the chuunin exams. You showed a lot of potential. Then again, so did these two. Potential that Orochimaru would have blatantly wasted."

"Who are you?"

"A friend. My name is Kakashi Hatake."

Dosu tilted his head. "My friends are dead. The last time someone helped me out, it ended with me becoming a tool."

Kakashi shook his head. "I don't expect you to give me loyalty or worship me. And I certainly make no plans to use you as a human sacrifice in a resurrection jutsu."

Dosu tried to will his eyes to stop blurring with tears. "So that's how it happened." He spoke softly, looking at them. "I don't have much choice, do I? My friends are gone. Everything worth fighting for is gone."

Kakashi shook his head. "Not necessarily. I can make a new life for you here."

Dosu tilted his head more. "I am a shinobi of the village hidden in the Sound. Even if it is a front for Orochimaru, it was my home. The one place I felt I belonged, where I didn't feel like a freak. I want to go back someday."

Kakashi nodded. "I understand. But that isn't an option right now."

"Obviously. I'm not stupid."

"I never said that. And I can help you train. Even if I know nothing of your sound techniques, I can help with chakra control and teach you a bit of what I know. I also think you'll be great at working behind the scenes, so I'll have you go on missions, of course. You'll just have...an unconventional experience as your life as a shinobi."

"Since when is anything having to do with being a shinobi conventional?" Dosu said with a snort.

Kakashi shrugged. "You in or out?"

"I'm in. Just let me say goodbye to them. Please."

Kakashi gave Dosu a sympathetic look, then nodded. "I'll wait outside." He left.

Dosu turned to his friends. "I...I don't really know what to say. I just know that even though we all put up this front that we don't care about each other, I..." He breathed hard and looked. "I'm going to miss you both. A lot. I'm going to miss Kin freaking out about her hair and yelling at us about training and I'm going to miss Zaku jumping into situations like a total moron and I'm going to miss how you guys didn't care how I looked or walked or stood. You just saw me as a friend, a teammate. As a fellow shinobi." Dosu found his breath becoming wet and ragged, his nose running. His bandages were getting wet. He couldn't breath, couldn't talk. He could only feel how unfair the universe was. He could only feel the gaping hole within him at the loss of everything he had ever known.

Kakashi came running in.

"What are you doing? I told you to let me say goodbye!" Dosu shouted hoarsely.

"I heard you screaming. It was more like wailing, but..."

Dosu fell to his knees, sobbing silently. Kakashi sighed and went to him.

"Iruka is a lot better at this sort of thing." He kneeled down and hugged Dosu. Dosu wanted to push him away, tell him to leave him alone. But he just couldn't.

"My fault..." He sobbed.

"It wasn't your fault. It was out of your control. The fact that you survived is amazing." He looked at Dosu. "My teammates died on a mission, and I spent years blaming myself for what happened. But the thing is, blaming yourself doesn't solve anything. It just wastes the sacrifice they made. Honor your friends by showing Orochimaru, by showing the world, that you are more than just a tool."

Dosu pulled back, then stood. He went to his friends, looking at them for one last time. He reached out.

He shut Kin's eyes.

He shut Zaku's eyes.

He turned to Kakashi. "Alright. I'm ready."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we meet Iruka, who immediately goes into teacher/mom mode. Kakashi is totally not a gooey ninja

Iruka's face paled at the sight of Dosu. "You're alive! Wha-" Kakashi put a hand over his mouth.

"It's still too soon after what happened. Until a new hokage is appointed, we should probably keep the fact that he survived a secret."

Iruka nodded and Kakashi removed the hand. "I'm just glad he's ok." Iruka looked him over. "Wow, you look like you've been through hell. I'll get you some fresh clothes. I don't think we have enough bandages for you to replace...um..."

Dosu shook his head. "That's ok. I only wear them to keep one ear and one eye covered, then I switch sides every week. That way one ear and one eye has heightened senses, and I don't have to focus as much chakra on my ears."

Kakashi blinked. "That's actually kind of clever."

Dosu nodded. "It makes using my jutsu easier. But if I'm laying low, then I suppose that would be unnecessary. The bandages also give me the advantage of hiding my face as well, I suppose."

Iruka smiled and nodded, going to find Dosu clothes.

"What happened with your arm?" Kakashi asked.

"I broke it when I tried to fight Gaara. My resonating echo speaker broke as well. Having a place to stay will allow me to fix that."

Kakashi nodded. "The splint is good for someone in your situation, but it's probably healing wrong. It might have to be reset."

Dosu sighed. "Fine." He began unwrapping the bandages on his head. Kakashi stared at him, eye wide.

By the time Dosu finished, he frowned at Kakashi. "What?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Nothing. It's just a little...anticlimactic."

Dosu scowled, tilting his head. "What were you expecting? That I would be horribly deformed?"

Kakashi put up his hands in mock surrender. "No...I'm not sure."

Dosu snorted, taking off his grass cloak.

"Do you wear that to try to draw attention away from your back?"

"Perhaps. It also works as a good raincoat as well. Oto is a pretty humid place. I also used to let songbirds nest in it..." Dosu looked down, blinking.

Kakashi nodded. "I see. I think it draws more attention to your back, to be honest. And as for the rain, konoha has pretty mild weather. You can still try to look for songbirds, though." Kakashi pulled his mask down. "And if you feel uncomfortable with your bandages off, I'll make it a you show yours I'll show mine kind of deal, alright?" He smiled a bit.

Dosu nodded, still feeling naked. Iruka came in, and he gasped and dropped the bundle of clothes he had.

"How...Kakashi..." He smiled at them, then chuckled and began picking the clothes back up.

Kakashi smirked. "What?"

Iruka shrugged. "Oh, just that it took me a good two years of being in a serious relationship with you before you took down your mask. You've known this kid for little over an hour." Iruka grinned at Kakashi, giving Dosu the clothes. Dosu decided not to listen in on this, and went to the bathroom to change after Iruka gave him directions.

"What did that mean? About my mask?" Kakashi said, narrowing his eyes at Iruka.

"You've never had a child of your own..."

"I have my students."

"Naruto has Jiraiya now. The fatherly figure role has been pretty much snatched from you. And Sasuke has been...distant. Even more so than he was to begin with. This kid...He has a past similar to yours, has the whole mask thing going on, and he needs someone to look out for him. You seem to be filling those shoes with surprising proficiency. That's all I'm saying."

"It seems like you're saying a lot."

"Am I wrong?"

Kakashi sighed. "I don't know. He seems very guarded to me."

"He's a kid who's had to survive. I'm just glad he let us take him in in the first place. He's smart, and definitely resourceful, but it's pretty clear to me that he's hurting and alone too."

Kakashi rolled his eyes and huffed. "Why do you always bring out the gooey gushy stuff? Ugh..." He put his mask back up and pouted.

Iruka chuckled and kissed his cheek. "You can't deny your gooey self forever, Kakashi."

Kakashi rolled his eyes as Dosu came back out. "I'm sorry for just sort of throwing my cloak on the floor..." He went to pick it up.

Iruka smiled. "That's fine. I can find a better place if you'd like. Are you hungry? I'm sure getting food has been difficult for you."

Dosu tilted his head. "Why are you so nice to me?"

Iruka stopped, then smiled. "Because you need someone to help you not feel alone, and you need someone to help you reach your potential. I just happen to be pretty good at doing both of those things." He chuckled a bit. "Also I think you've gotten to Kakashi's soft side, and it's rare when that happens."

Dosu nodded. "I've never had anyone just be kind to me for the sake of kindness itself. Thank you."

Iruka gave his trademark warm smile. "It's no problem. Now, are you hungry?"

Dosu nodded, smiling a little.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our lovable mummy ninja goes for a new look, struggles with his Justus, causes his parents property damage, and stumbles across a certain pair of leaf nins.

"Goddammit!"

Dosu was experiencing another failure. He had been trying to develop more sound jutsus, and so far he was crashing and burning. Kakashi was a good teacher, but it was hard enough to develop just one jutsu. Kakashi and the fourth hokage had only developed one. Dosu wanted to develop a whole new element of jutsus, the element of sound.

"Dosu, you don't have to be so hard on yourself. You're doing great with your training. You're only fifteen, you've got time." Iruka told him, smiling. "But if you're going to work on your jutsus, I would prefer you do it outside. At a safe distance from any buildings. Need I remind you of the last...incident?"

Dosu shook his head. "It wasn't that bad..."

"You blew out the windows of my apartment!"

Dosu sighed, standing up. "I thought I'm supposed to lay low in between missions."

Iruka took out his grass cloak, which was his way of pushing Dosu out the door. "I'm sure you can find someplace secluded to practice."

Dosu sighed, taking his cloak and leaving.

In the past year Dosu had stopped wearing bandages and opted for a look more similar to Kakashi's, minus the leaf headband.

Tsunade had offered him a leaf headband when she had first met him, but Dosu had politely declined. The only headband he planned on wearing was that of the hidden sound, when he would take his home from Orochimaru and make it the place it should have been, the way he had thought it was. A home for the freaks, the rejects, the outcasts. A place where anyone could belong. And the only way he could beat Orochimaru was to use jutsus he didn't know, jutsus he wouldn't be able to predict and therefore evade. Dosu had seen the kind of power the sannin possessed, and he knew he had a long way to go to achieve his goal.

He had finally found a place to practice. Lately he had been seeing if he could find a way to recreate Zaku's abilities without the installation of the tubes in his arms (hence the blown out windows a couple days ago). So far he found that although it could be done, it was inefficient, imprecise and used up too much chakra. It was more of a shockwave of sound than the focused blast that Zaku had been able to do.

He decided to take a break from working on that jutsu, since it was exhausting. He would work on the summoning jutsu he had been developing instead. He pulled out the scroll he had written, then cut his finger. He made the proper handsigns. He spread his blood in a line across the scroll.

"Ninja art, summoning jutsu! Songbird swarm!" He slammed his hand onto the ground, the kanji appearing on the ground and a burst of smoke a promising sign.

Two songbirds that were not even fully grown appeared, flapping around Dosu and perching on his cloak. He couldn't help but sweatdrop and give a defeated groan.

He sighed and began looking over his scroll, trying to figure out where he'd gone wrong. One of the birds had flown down and was hopping towards Dosu's hand. He pet it with his forefinger absentmindedly while he thought.

"...All I'm saying is that you've been spending a lot of time with Temari, and it seems like you two are, y'know, flirting a lot. So are you a thing?"

Dosu recognized that voice from the chuunin exams, it was the fat boy he had had a match with. He sighed. Of all the people to come across him...

"I don't even know, dude. One minute she hates my guts, the next she's practically throwing herself at me. It's such a drag..."

Before Dosu could finish putting away his things, the two chuunin were looking at him.

"Hey." The lazy one said, nodding. Dosu nodded.

"I've never seen you around here before. Looks like you're a shinobi, though." The lazy one tilted his head a bit. Dosu could remember how the boy had outsmarted Kin. It was just his luck that of all the people to find him it was the smart guy.

"I, uh...I think I was in the class two years before yours." Not a complete lie. He was two years older than them.

Shikamaru frowned. Obviously he wasn't falling for it. Meanwhile the other shinobi was scowling at him.

"Where's your head band?"

Dosu laughed a bit. "I, ah, must've forgotten it at home."

The larger nins eyes widened. "That voice..."

Shit. Why did Dosu have to have such a creepy distinctive voice?

"Everybody thought you were dead!"

The smaller nin turned to look at his friend. "What're you talking about, Choji?"

"He's the sound genin! The one I had a match with! The creepy one!"

"Gee, thanks." Dosu drawled.

Shikamaru looked at him. "So what is a guy from the sound everybody thought was dead doing in our village?"

"I..." Dosu looked down. "I tried to attack that demon from the sand, because I knew that Orochimaru was just using me and my friends as pawns, and I wanted to kill Sasuke so I thought if I cut out the sand genin I would have a better chance of killing him. It went terribly wrong. I managed to get away, but only just. Kakashi Hatake found me, took me in. He gave me a life here. The hokage knows about me, and I go on missions that require...different abilities. You can ask her if you'd like."

"Oh yeah, how come you've been hiding?" The smaller nin inquired.

Dosu looked down. "I know a lot of secrets about the sound, about the things Orochimaru can do, what he has...if I revealed myself I would be making myself a target. If you tell anyone about my existence, I will die."

The two shinobi thought. "What're you doing out here?" Choji asked.

"I've been trying to develop new sound jutsus. I want to kill Orochimaru and make the village hidden in the Sound a real village, not some slaughterhouse for that madman."

The smaller nin shrugged. "Any way we can help?"

Dosu tilted his head. "Hmm...perhaps it would be helpful to allow me to test the jutsu out on you? And perhaps you would be able to see any ways to improve them?"

Choji frowned. "So what, we're gonna be your punching bag?"

Dosu sighed. "I don't really know what else to do..."

The lazy nin shrugged. "What's the worst that could happen? It's two against one. If he turns on us, one of us can defend the other, and if one of us gets badly hurt the other could go get the hokage."

Choji shifted from foot to foot. "I don't know, Shikamaru...I guess if it helps in beating Orochimaru then it's worth a shot."

Shikamaru slumped. "Ugh. This is gonna be such a drag..."

Dosu smiled warmly through his mask. "I'll try to go easy on you."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Dosu must help retrieve Emo Mcangstypants and recruit the helping hand (or six hands of you want to get technical) of a former fellow sound shinobi.

"This is suicide!"  
Tsunade had slammed her hand on her desk. Dosu jumped a bit but was unfazed.  
"You need intelligence on Orochimaru and Sasuke. I'm really not into the idea of helping that little emo bitch, but if it hurts Orochimaru I'm up for it."  
Tsunade shook her head. "You'll get yourself killed. I know what he's capable of."  
Dosu scowled. "And I don't? He practically raised me, Tsunade. I know how he operates, which means I know how to slip past any security he might have. If anyone can get you the intel you need, it's me. Not to mention you can't really afford to sacrifice any of your leaf shinobi with the Akatsuki still at large."  
Tsunade looked at him, then at Shikamaru. "Please tell me you have a way to talk him out of this."  
Shikamaru shrugged. "Nope. He's right. But I don't think going alone is a good idea."  
Dosu scowled at him. "You really think that letting another person in on the secret of my survival is?"  
Shikamaru shrugged. "I'm not saying you have to go with someone you don't already know."  
Dosu narrowed his eye. "Who?"  
"Someone who's also an old disciple of Orochimaru's. Guy's been in recovery from the Sasuke retrieval mission for a while now, he had multiple organ failures, but... According to Sakura he's ready to get back in the game."  
Dosu's eye widened. "You got one of the sound ninja five?" Dosu had always heard about them or had seen them in passing, but he had never actually met any of Orochimaru's most skilled followers.  
"You'll touch base with him and then start gathering supplies for the mission." Tsunade scowled at Dosu. "I've come to really trust you during these past few years, so you'd better not come home in a box."  
Dosu nodded. "I'll do my best." 

Dosu came into the hospital via the back entrance and waited for Sakura to meet up with him and take him to the sound nin. When she came walking towards him, he almost didn't believe it.  
"So you're a medical ninja now?"  
Sakura glared at him. "Yeah. Trained by Tsunade herself. Why?"  
Dosu raised a brow. "You know what? Never mind. If you've been trained by Tsunade, I really have no desire to insult you." Though he had been making good progress with his abilities as a shinobi. It had taken a lot of research, including a few physics classes and researching the history and development of rare jutsu styles. Perhaps it had been beneficial to end up in konoha, since this was a village founded by a man who had been able to use a rare style such as wood.  
He was pulled out of his thoughts when Sakura opened the hospital room's door. It had been locked.  
"So he's a prisoner?"  
"Kidomaru is a lot less...cooperative than you are. You'll have to make sure he doesn't try to ditch you."  
Dosu narrowed his eye. He remembered the things he'd heard about the spider nin. "Good to know."  
At first Dosu had thought Kidomaru had escaped, since the room was empty. He looked around, a little panicked, then actually shrieked when Kidomaru dropped down in front of him from the ceiling.  
Kidomaru snickered. "Well well well, looks like konoha's got a mummy and a ghost. Lord Orochimaru said you were dead."  
Dosu made a note that Kidomaru still called Orochimaru lord. "Surprisingly enough, snake skin doesn't know everything."  
Kidomaru sneered. "How dare you insult him! You owe him your life!"  
Dosu nodded. "Right, a life he saved so he could use it and dispose of it like a Kleenex at his convenience. Really an excellent role model, I must say."  
Sakura smirked a bit. "I get the feeling living with Kakashi-sensei is starting to rub off on you."  
Dosu scowled at her. "How do you know that I live with him?"  
She snorted. "He told me. He seems to really like you."  
Dosu blinked. He felt a little surprised at that. Nobody had ever liked him. Tsunade trusted him, but only because he had proven himself. Shikamaru seemed to tolerate him. Maybe Iruka liked him, but sometimes he felt that Iruka and Kakashi only pitied him. He wondered if he was wrong about that.  
Kidomaru hit his head lightly with the book he had been reading. "Yo, quasimoto. Why are you talking to me?"  
Dosu glared at him, growling a bit and trying very hard to remember the breathing exercises Kakashi had taught him and Iruka to deal with their anger problems. "A mission." He said through his teeth.  
Kidomaru sneered. "What kinda mission?"  
"Intelligence gathering. Specifically intelligence from Orochimaru on the whereabouts of Sasuke Uchiha."  
Kidomaru scowled at him, took a deep breath, then said one word.  
"No."  
He slammed his door shut.  
Dosu shrugged. "You heard the man, I guess I'll just fly solo..." He turned to leave and was stopped by an pink clad iron grip on his shoulder. "Nice try. You're taking spider man with whether you want to or not."  
Dosu groaned and slumped. "In the words of Shikamaru Nara, this is going to be such a drag..."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kidomaru learns to stop being an ass, and Dosu comes across another person from his past.

Dosu had a migraine.   
He had been traveling for three days with Kidomaru, who was going out of his way to annoy Dosu. Needless to say he was stunningly talented at it.   
They were approaching the sand village as a rest stop for the night as Kidomaru was finishing his 47th verse of "it's a small world after all," and Dosu was using every ounce of willpower he had not to strangle him.  
"So, quasimoto, we stopping here for the night? Pretty shitty place if you ask-" Kidomaru couldn't finish his sentence because Dosu had tackled him and pinned him down, holding a kunai to his throat.   
"Stop. Calling me that. How would you like if I called you cum shooting forehead eye man? Hm? Does that sound nice?"   
Kidomaru scowled. "You've been working hard on that name, huh?"   
"Since we left, yes."   
Kidomaru gave a long look. "You abandoned the man who saved your life, gave you an education and a family."  
Dosu narrowed his eyes. "He also prepared me for slaughter like a pig and left you to die. Tell me, Kidomaru, who came for you when you were dying? Orochimaru?"   
Kidomaru wouldn't meet his eyes. "I never had anyone else."   
Dosu nodded. "Neither did I. But that doesn't mean you have to roll over and accept that kind of treatment." He got up. "I'm tired, my back hurts, and if you want to go back to someone who doesn't give two shits about your health and well being, be my guest. I'm tired of your bullshit. Decide whether you want to stand behind the man who has used us to get what he wants, or if you want to stand behind the potential that otogakure has to be a sanctuary for freaks and outcasts like us. Your choice." Dosu walked away.  
Kidomaru followed after him, hugging himself with all six arms and looking a little lost. Dosu almost felt sorry for him. Almost. "Ready to stop being a dick, cum shooting forehead eye man?"   
Kidomaru snorted. "Yeah, I guess." 

They went to an inn with a bar and went down to it after getting their room.   
Kidomaru scowled. "We go to a bar and we're not even old enough to drink. Great idea, oh fearless leader."   
Dosu shot a glare. "Shut up, cum shooter."  
Kidomaru smirked. "Make me, quasimoto."   
Dosu rolled his eyes and began looking over the menu. He couldn't help but wonder if Gaara was around. He had been a sand nin, and although he had tried to kill Dosu he had, in a strange way, saved his life. He decided to do some exploring tonight and find out.   
"So how do we plan on infiltrating Orochimaru's hideout? We're not exactly inconspicuous."   
Dosu sighed. "I'm thinking about it. There were a few hidden entrances we can try, if they even still exist. You were higher up on the totem pole of kissing snake ass, wouldn't you know more?"   
Kidomaru shrugged. "Nah, Kimimaro was the one who got all the intel. The rest of us usually followed along."  
Dosu nodded in understanding. "The ultimate ass kisser."   
Kidomaru snickered. "Only second to Kabuto."   
Dosu chuckled. "Yeah, that guy practically lived in Orochimaru's ass."   
They both laughed together, and for the first time since Zaku and Kin he felt like he had a friend.

Dosu snuck through sunagakure in the twilight, getting into the kazekage's office. He began digging through papers and realized something.   
Most of them were signed and sealed by Gaara.  
Dosu couldn't help but find himself helplessly confused.  
"I can quick grab those change of address forms for you, I keep some in my desk drawer just in case..." Gaara was coming into his office with a jonin and stopped when he saw Dosu, who was frozen like a deer in headlights.   
Gaara blinked. "Um. Hello."   
Dosu put some papers down. "Salutations. I didn't steal anything."   
Gaara nodded. "Good to know. Do you mind telling me who you are?"   
Dosu felt surprised at Gaara's lack of aggression. The genin he had known would have gleefully crushed him on site. Hell, he wasn't even freaked out about the breaking and entering. "Uhh...Dosu Kinuta. I don't know if you remember me..."   
Gaara's eyes widened. "I thought I had killed you."   
Dosu sweatdropped. "Surprise!" He put up his hands.  
Gaara blinked and then did the weirdest thing. He smiled warmly at Dosu. "It's good to know that I have one life's worth of blood off my hands. I know it's late, but maybe we could sit in my office and have some tea?"   
Dosu narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out the catch. "Is the tea poisoned?"   
Gaara frowned. "I certainly hope not. The last time someone tried to poison me was awful."   
Dosu tilted his head, then shrugged. "Oh, what the fuck. I'll take black tea if you have it." 

"Naruto who?" Dosu tilted his head. Gaara had just finished explaining what had happened with Naruto to change him. And Dosu couldn't remember who this Naruto person even was.   
Gaara frowned. "Naruto...Uzumaki?"   
Dosu shook his head.  
"Blonde hair? Wears a lot of orange? Likes to say dattebayo a lot?"   
Dosu shrugged. "Doesn't ring a bell."   
Gaara shook his head. "Well, nevermind then. What have you been doing all this time?"   
Dosu shrugged. "I was taken in by a leaf jonin and I've been laying low and doing missions for the hokage. I'm actually on my way to the sound to try to gather intel."   
Gaara smiled. "It sounds dangerous. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. I would send some help, but unfortunately the village needs as many shinobi as it can get."   
Dosu smiled. "Maybe I could chip in when we're on our way back?"   
Gaara chuckled. "Are you sure Tsunade-sama would approve? I'm sure she keeps you busy."   
Dosu nodded. "She certainly does, but it would be a chance to broaden my horizons a bit."   
"Well, I could use a little extra help. Kankuro is an excellent advisor, but I'm afraid I've been overworking him since he became head of the puppet corps..."   
"Then it's settled. I'll talk to Tsunade about staying here and helping you for awhile. To be honest, it would be great to see what being a kage is like. I'm considering becoming one if I can take back Oto from Orochimaru."   
Gaara nodded. "I wish you the best of luck in that."   
Dosu chuckled. "Thanks."


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dosu's mission flops, but he manages to sort of rebound and literally and figuratively runs into a certain knuckleheaded ninja.

When Dosu and Kidomaru got to the hideout they discovered two things.  
One was that the secret entrance Dosu remembered was still accessible and unguarded.  
A plus.   
The second was that there was hardly anyone there. And the very people they were looking for were among the absentees.   
A minus.   
Kidomaru shrugged. "Maybe we could break into an office and see if we can get any information on where they might have gone?"   
Dosu ignored him and snuck through the halls. He had wisely opted to ditch the grass cloak. He found some sleeping chambers and began peeking in.   
"Yo, quasimoto, what's the game plan?"  
"Sh." Dosu found the one he was looking for. He managed to pick the lock and tried to see if there were any traps. "Kidomaru, how about you go first." He motioned him to go in.  
Kidomaru narrowed his eyes. "No. You want me to see if there's any traps?"   
Dosu shrugged. "Worth a shot."   
Kidomaru sighed and removed his headband, revealing his third eye. Dosu couldn't help but stare at it as it scanned the room and doorway. "There's a tripwire at the threshold, other than that it looks clear." The eye caugh Dosu's baffled gaze. "What?"   
Dosu shook his head and looked away. "Sorry, it's just..."   
Kidomaru smirked. "Weird?"   
Dosu remained silent.   
"I know it looks weird. And I know the arms weird people out. If you wanna ask questions about it you can." He stepped over the tripwire.   
Dosu followed him and went to the desk. "Perfect, this is the room I was looking for." He held up some medical documents signed by Kabuto. "If there's anything worth knowing, it's here." He began shuffling through papers. "Also...does that eye have a tear duct? Like what if you get dust in it?"   
Kidomaru snorted. "Yeah it has one. Find anything?"   
Dosu chuckled. "I certainly have." He held up a map. "Looks like our ultimate brown noser has an appointment with someone at Tenchi bridge. He's got notes about it on the back..."   
"Lucky for us the guy is meticulous huh?"  
Dosu nodded and folded up the papers. "Let's keep these and leave."   
Kidomaru put up a hand to stop him. "Wait. If Kabuto is betraying Orochimaru, wouldn't he destroy any trace of a meeting with as a spy?"   
"Maybe Orochimaru does know, and it's not a betrayal...it's a trap."   
Kidomaru smirked. "Looks like we just pinpointed where Orochimaru, Kabuto, and that Uchiha shit are gonna be."   
Dosu turned back to the desk, seeing a few other tidbits. Medical reports on Orochimaru, along with progress reports on Sasuke. He took all of this as well. 

By the time they got in contact with Tsunade the mission at Tenchi bridge had been completed as a failure.  
Kidomaru shrugged when Dosu told him the good news. "I don't really think Sasuke would come back with them to begin with, honestly. I remember the look in his eyes..."   
Dosu sighed and lay back on the bed. "I don't really care about Sasuke. Besides, the mission wasn't a total failure." He held up the medical documents and progress reports on Sasuke. "We know how much time we've got left now, and what Sasuke has been doing all this time."   
"Even if this was a failure, it's nice to be out in the sun and free. Hopefully the hokage will take this as a sign that I'm trustworthy and I can start going on missions." Kidomaru spread his arms out on the bed. 

On the way back to Konoha they passed by two men in Akatsuki cloaks, one with his face covered and the other carrying a scythe. Dosu's eyes widened. "Akatsuki!" He whispered. "We've got to tell lady Tsunade!" He began going faster, praying that he and Kidomaru hadn't been noticed.   
Luckily they hadn't, and Dosu was walking through the hokage offices when he bumped into some blonde guy with orange clothes.   
"Oh, sorry, didn't see you there!" The blonde grinned.  
Dosu narrowed his eyes. He swore this guy looked familiar...He would have remembered someone wearing, of all the god awful colors in this world, orange.   
"No problem. Is lady Tsunade in her office?"   
The blonde nodded. "Yeah, I just came from turning in a report on a mission..." He looked sad.   
And then it clicked.  
"Oh! You're Naruto Uzumaki!"  
Naruto laughed. "Yeah, that's me!"   
Dosu frowned. "You're the nine tails if I remember correctly..." His eyes widened. "You're in danger."  
Naruto frowned. "How did you know I'm the nine tails jinchuuriki? And what're you talking about I'm in danger?"   
Dosu shook his head. "I can't explain right now, but we met once. I was on my way back from a mission when I spotted two Akatsuki heading towards Konoha."  
Naruto nodded and grinned. "Right! I'll get a team together and stop them!"   
Dosu tilted his head. Could he really be this stupid? "That sounds like a horrible idea. I'll report to lady Tsunade and you stay out of this."   
Naruto growled. "Hey, who're you to try to order me around huh?"   
Dosu scowled. "Well, for one, I'm a jonin. And I hear you're still a genin, is that correct?"   
Naruto growled louder, looking pissed. "Oh yeah? I'll show you what happens when some random guy orders me around! Dattebayo!"   
Dosu rolled his eyes and pushed him aside, going to lady Tsunade.


End file.
